


Why I Left Buzzfeed

by madamecrimson



Category: Buzzfeed Test Friends (Web Series), Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series), Ruining History (Web Series), The Try Guys (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment (Web Series)
Genre: Brainwashing, Conspiracy, Cults, Gen, Poisoning, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:48:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamecrimson/pseuds/madamecrimson
Summary: Ryan, Steven, and Shane had been aching to work on some new content for awhile now. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy working on "Unsolved" and "Worth It," they merely wanted to expand and explore their creativity. They began to notice people slowly leaving and they weren't sure why. Every would explain that it was due to wanting to work on other projects. However, there always seemed to be a look of unease among those who had left; a far off glazed look in the eyes, a tension in their posture. The three begin to grow suspicious, deciding to try to investigate covertly; but little did they know what lay ahead. (100% fictional, merely based on watching too many cult and conspiracy docs lately).
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Why I Left Buzzfeed

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is pre-Watcher.

It was another late night of editing at the Buzzfeed office. Ryan and Shane were clacking away on their keyboards, knee deep in editing. Shane let out a heavy sigh, removing his headphones. Ryan noticed out of the corner of his eye, taking off his headphones as well. 

"You okay man?" Ryan asked. 

Shane tilted his head to the sigh. "You ever wonder if you'd be better off just doing a regular old 9 to 5?" 

Ryan laughed heartily. "No, that's why we're all here. And weren't you the one that said you hated the idea of working in an office?"

"Loathed," Shane corrected. 

Ryan rolled his eyes. "They mean the same thing."

"'Loathed' is more weighty," Shane replied. 

Ryan appeared nervous for a moment. "Have I been too...ghost-y lately?," he asked. 

"What?" Shane inquired, a puzzled expression on his face. 

"I mean, I keep adding more and more equipment, you don't get a whole lot of sleep on trips--" Ryan went on before Shane interrupted him. 

"If any," Shane joked, his tone growing more serious when he saw Ryan's face fall into a hurt expression. "This has nothing to do with you, or Unsolved," he amended. 

Ryan brightened slightly. "Just sick of editing then?" he suggested. 

Shane shook his head. "It's this office. The white walls. The open concept design so we can pull whomever we see available into videos to encourage "collaboration." And the work never stops. We're like a colony of ants when we aren't shooting, it's create, edit, create, edit, create, edit ad nauseam. If our videos aren't at the top of they viral scale, they end whole series over it." 

Ryan's expression softened. "I miss Ruining History too." 

Shane gave him a grateful smile. "I wasn't a fan of Sports Conspiracies, because well, I'm not a fan of sports, and never watched it. Fut you were fulfilling a dream, you were working your ass off, and you had an audience." 

Ryan nodded wistfully. Shane pushed himself up from his chair, stretching his arms high in the air. "I'm going to the canteen. Want anything?" Shane asked. 

"Just some jelly beans," Ryan replied. 

Shane smiled knowingly as he headed over there. He grabbed two bags from one of the fabric lined baskets before returning to their desks. He handed one to Ryan who tore into it immediately. Shane rolled his in his hands, wallowing a bit in his frustration. 

"Do you ever want to have more creative control over our content? That's why the Try Guys left," Shane commented awhile later, looking up at Ryan. 

Ryan had appeared just as exhausted as Shane had a few minutes ago; maybe not as jaded, but certainly disappointed in some regard. But now, he had a wide grin on his face, speaking louder, like he normally did when they were dealing with subpar microphones. 

"Aw come on man! It's great working at Buzzfeed. I love it! Who doesn't want to work for the world’s leading independent digital media company?" Ryan told him. 

Shane peered at Ryan a little more closely. That wording sounded particularly familiar, and distinctly not Ryan-like. He realized that Ryan's pupils were dilated, that he was sweating, and that he was talking faster than usual. 

"Aren't you gonna eat your jelly beans?" Ryan inquired, gesturing to Shane's bag. 

Shane's eyes moved to his bag of jelly beans, then back to Ryan, then back to Ryan's bag of jelly beans. Shane had always defended the need for evidence in every situation, and there was no way in that moment that he could be sure he was correct in his thinking. But the panic and fear that rose within him and won over logic as Shane slapped Ryan's bag of jelly beans out of his hands. Shane leaned down to pick them up before Ryan could do so, moving them next to his keyboard, far out of Ryan's reach. Shane was expecting a whine of indignation, choice words, a "what's the big idea big guy?", anything. But Ryan just gave him a blank stare. Ryan was one of the most expressive people that Shane knew, and to see all of that gone from his face was extremely unsettling. 

"Ryan?" Shane asked, waving a hand in front of Ryan's face. 

"Ryan!" he exclaimed, a little louder this time. 

"Hey sorry man, I gotta get back to work. These videos won't edit themselves," Ryan said cheerfully a moment later, the wide smile returning immediately; he didn't appear happy though, as the smile didn't reach his eyes. . 

Shane blinked at him, seeing the grin spread over Ryan's face, not knowing that humans could smile that wide. 

Shane felt a shiver crawl up his spine. He was normally so focused on work that he never really got the time to take in his surroundings. 

He had a distinct feeling that right now, he was being watched.


End file.
